Tri-rail Planning To Add Tracks

Tri-Rail is gambling millions of dollars that South Florida's car culture will become so disgusted with traffic on Interstate 95 that thousands of commuters will switch to public transportation.

To entice them, the tri-county commuter railroad will begin construction in mid-May on a $22 million second track between Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach. The project, paid for with federal and state money, is the first in a planned $800 million overhaul of South Florida's commuter rail system.

Tri-Rail officials said the double-track system, to be built along the 67-mile corridor between Miami International Airport and West Palm Beach, would make commuting by train more convenient, timely and practical.

"We're on a plateau right now in the process of expanding service," Tri-Rail executive director Gilbert Robert said at press conference on Monday at the Fort Lauderdale station. "The greatest impediment to future expansion has been the [existing) infrastructure."

Tri-Rail, which has a $21 million budget subsidized by state and federal governments, has not attracted commuters nearly to the extent that the Tri-County Rail Authority had hoped.

In 1989, the commuter train was established to lure South Florida drivers from Interstate 95. But six years later, it carries only 9,000 riders a day. Ridership fell by 10 percent this month when the train switched to zoned fares, boosting ticket prices by about 25 percent.

Meanwhile, 200,000 cars a day travel along the newly widened interstate.

Florida Department of Transportation officials said the plan is to create Tri-Rail stations where riders could leave their cars, hop on a train and then take a bus or walk to work.

"We have to make Tri-Rail a more convenient component of South Florida's overall transportation system," said Joseph Yesbeck, the department's district director of planning and programs.

Riders waiting for a train at the Fort Lauderale station on Monday said more trains on more tracks would mean more convenience.

"It's the timing of the trains that bothers me," said Shannon Weldon, 23, who commutes from Miami Lakes to Fort Lauderdale for work. . "If they ran more often, I wouldn't have to waste so much time waiting around."

The pending double-track system, to be built over 18 months by Herzog Transportation and CSX Transportation, will connect eight miles of new tracks into existing sidings at the Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach stations.

Train schedules are not expected to be affected. Once completed, Tri-Rail plans to build double-track systems between Fort Lauderdale and Miami International Airport, and between Pompano Beach and West Palm Beach by the next century.

The overall plan, which includes a new signal system, will enable Tri-Rail to increase service from 30 to 50 trains a day, reduce the wait between trains from one hour to 30 minutes, and raise seating capacity to 32,800 riders daily.

Five new stations will be built, others will be renovated, and available parking will increase from 2,500 to 7,000 spaces.